gvan: Obama did nothing to rein in the speculators. He should have at least done that!
With a stroke of his pen, he could have mandated that any entity speculating on oil must have the capability of receiving the crude and processing it. 90% of the speculators,including the big banks and hedge funds would have had to drop out, leaving only companies with refineries in the running.

May your life and the lives of all you know be jeweled with auspicious coincidence. May all good befall you. May all good come your way. May the Fates not ever know the letters that form the words disaster. May you all live in love.

Thanks for the link. I would suggest a couple of things...1) the report discusses October numbers while the OPEC meeting and the free-fall in oil prices were ~ 25-27 November. and (2) none of the input to the October numbers had factored in the results of the meeting or the price dump that happened immediately afterwards.